ABC iview has more iOS than web viewers

As many viewers now watch the ABC’s iview video streaming service on iPhones, iPads and iPods as on the iview website, reflecting a wider trend towards media consumption on mobile devices.

Citing Webtrends figures, the Australian public broadcaster says iOS devices represented 45.2 percent of total iview plays last week, against 45.1 percent via the website.

The growth, it says, is being driven by ABC Children’s content, which accounted for 15 of the top 20 programs viewed via iOS in that week. The most popular shows watched were Pappa Pig and Play School.

The free ABC iview app was recently updated for iPhone 5. The new version was downloaded 309,000 times in its first week of release, and now sits on more than 1.8 million iOS devices.

“ABC iview led the way as Australia’s first catch-up service, providing choice in terms of what people watch, when they watch, and the variety of devices they can watch on,” says ABC TV Controller Multiplatform Arul Baskaran.

“We continue to evolve iview to best serve our audience and respond to shifts in how Australians use technology,” he adds. “We’re seeing explosive growth in mobile and tablet viewing of TV content and are very pleased with the popularity of iview on these platforms. We look forward to enabling the service on more devices in the future.”

The iview website recorded record traffic and program plays last month, which the ABC says is partly due to the iview first-run previews of the new Doctor Who series.